Soil, groundwater at U.S base in Bupyeong found to be contaminated: gov't

SEJONG, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- Soil and groundwater inside a U.S. military base in Incheon, just west of Seoul, was found to have been contaminated with chemicals, oil and other potentially harmful substances, South Korea's government said Friday.

The environment ministry announced the results of its onsite inspections of Camp Market in the Bupyeong district of the city amid negotiations over the partial return of the military premises to South Korean authorities.

The inspections found that soil samples from seven of the 33 surveyed areas carried dioxins. The contamination levels were greater than the permissible ones in Germany and Japan. Dioxins can cause reproductive and developmental problems and damage the immune system, according to the World Health Organization.

Some soil samples were found to also carry oil, heavy metals and other harmful substances such as tetrachloroethylene and polychlorinated biphenyl, the ministry said. Heavy metals included copper, lead, zinc, nickel and mercury.

In some groundwater samples, total petroleum hydrocarbon and trichloroethylene were found, the ministry said.

Seoul and Washington have been in talks over the partial return of the 479,622-square-meter military base in line with the Status of Forces Agreement governing the status of 28,500 U.S. military personnel stationed in Korea as a deterrent against North Korea's possible aggression.
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